COVENTRY City Euro scout Ray Clarke is backing Gordon Strachan to attract the experienced professionals to lead the Sky Blues back to the Premiership.

The man who discovered George Boateng and Cedric Roussel is adapting his brief to help the club buy British, and he admits that while it will be a tough task, Strachan?s high profile reputation is the key to success.

Currently based in Holland where he has built up an extensive portfolio of up-and-coming stars, Clarke will now be looking closer to Highfield Road to pinpoint the play-ers the club needs.

?I think players will come for Gordon Strachan,? he said. ?If you look around in football, people know him and know the type of manager he is. That was why people like Gary McAllister and Colin Hendry came to the club. That is why John Hartson came to the club.

?OK money often plays a part but the gaffer is a big influence on play-ers who may not necessarily think Coventry is the most attractive club to come to.?

But what type of players can City fans expect the club to be targeting?

Clarke is confident there are quality players out there.

?I am sure we will be looking for people who are very experienced and very committed. Players like, for example, Stuart Pearce, Lee Dixon, Tony Adams and Dennis Irwin. That?s the type of player that can provide quality and experience.

?We have all seen what McAllister has done in the last few years and there is no question about his commitment, desire and hunger for the game, and those are the sorts of qualities we will be looking for.?

Clarke is convinced the secret to promotion success will be to make sure the club still considers themselves top flight quality.

?I am always looking for players who can, or have the potential to, play in the Premiership and I don?t see that changing just because Coventry are in the First Division,? he said.

?You cannot afford to step down to the First Division mentality just because you have been relegated. Manchester United look for players who can play in the Champions League, so we have got to follow a similar way of thinking and still think Premiership.

?The club has had a blip but hope-fully we will come straight back at the first attempt. You have to look at it as a bit of a holiday and a time when we can learn from our mistakes and come back even stronger.?

He added: ?The club have identified that they have lost a bit of experience along the way and now we hope to redress the balance.

?Players like Carlton Palmer and Colin Hendry came in to provide experience and although Carlton did a reasonable job in the short term, unfortunately things didn?t work out.?